Category: Haiti Post-Coup

For readers in Montreal, there will be a demonstration tomorrow (Saturday Dec 11) at a conference where Canada’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will be meeting the coup-installed Prime Minister Latortue. It is billed as a meeting with the Haitian diaspora, but the Lavalas party, which is being exterminated in Haiti right now, will not have a chance to participate.

I will be posting the document motivating the conference in another entry. It is an amazing piece, with all its talk on ‘state failure’ and the need to intervene to stop it. The question of why or how the state failed — as a direct result of external intervention, or why it is an ongoing failure (same reason) doesn’t seem to come up.

Below is the hastily put together urgent note about the demonstration. The Haitians meeting Martin and Pettigrew are denounced in it as the ‘Chalabis of Haiti’. This might be uncharitable to Chalabi. Allawi is probably a better analogue.

DEMONSTRATION * DEMONSTRATION* DEMONSTRATION

SUPPORT THE HAITIAN COMMUNITY IN THEIR PROTEST AGAINST THE ARRIVAL OF THE DE FACTO PRIME MINISTER OF HAITI IN MONTREAL.

Conference de Montreal avec la Diaspora Haitienne 10-11 Decembre 2004 Centre Mont-Royal, 2222 rue Mansfield Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Friday 5-9 PM, Saturday 11AM – 5PM

**Paul Martin and murderer Latortue speak at around 12:00 Saturday**

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED – URGENT ACTION ALERT

On December 10 and 11, 2004 Gerald Latortue and others from the Haitian diaspora with zero credibility with the masses in Haiti will be meeting in Montreal with Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin, Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigreww and others to decide the destiny of Haiti. None of the officially designated spokespersons for the Lavalas party nor any credible grassroots peace and justice leaders for Haiti, abroad or in Haiti, with an active following, are invited.

In fact, it is these participants opinion that “Lavalas is the past” and only those chosen by Canada to attend shall have a say in what is to be done with Haiti and its nine million people, their culture, domestic economy, group identity and revolutionary legacy.

The Canadians and internationals are talking, among other things, about putting Haiti under the long term tutelage of foreigners as a “protectorate.” Obviously, with this talk of a “protectorate” the idea of free and fair elections has taken a back seat, perhaps for as long as 10 to 20 years, the numbers being thrown about for this “protectorate” to be imposed on Haiti’s helpless peoples.

We urge our entire network in Canada to write, call and fax Paul Martin and Pierre Pettigrew to denounce this flagrant attempt to further isolate Haiti’s poor and steal their right to choose their own leaders and representatives. Those who live in the U.S. may e-mail Paul Martin and Pierre Pettigrew as follows: pmartin@fin.qc.ca , pm@pm.qc.ca , pierre@pierrepettigrew.ca , pettip@parl.qc.ca , pettigrew.p@parl.qc.ca and Pettigrew.P@parl.gc.ca with cc’s to: pettigrew.p@parl.qc.ca, info@oneconservativevoice.com, grahab8@parl.gc.ca , grahab@teammartin.ca, cotlei1@parl.gc.ca, jsaada.mp@videotron.ca, harper.s@parl.gc.ca, kathieangelo@shaw.ca, Reynolds.J@parl.qc.ca, menziest@tetus.net, Menzies.T@parl.qc.ca, mp@chuckstrahl.com, Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca, ducepg1@parl.qc.ca, Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca, ducepg@parl.qc.ca, Lalonde.F@parl.qc.ca, desroo@parl.qc.ca, desroo1@parl.qc.ca, bourgd1@parl.qc.ca, D.Bourgeois@parl.qc.ca, bourgd@parl.qc.ca, andreg1@parl.qc.ca, Andre_G@parl.qc.ca, layton.j@parl.gc.ca, Blaikie.B@parl.qc.ca, blaikbl@parl.qc.ca, mcdonough.a@parl.qc.ca, pierre@pierrepettigrew.ca, alexa@hfx.eastlink.ca .

bcc: vwazanset@mail.com Erzilidanto@aol.com (See, Canadian Officials Contact info below for detail on these e-mails addresses.)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

l. Montreal Conference with the Chalabis of Haiti by Marguerite Laurent, December 6, 2004 2.The Official invitation to the Canadian Conference on Dec. 11-12, 2004 (See also, The Focal paper at: www.focal.ca , (in French & English). This Canadian Foundation For the America’s paper reveals part of the agenda to be discussed: The Role for Canada in Post-Aristide Haiti: Structures, Options and Leadership!!!)

*

Montreal Conference with the Chalabis of Haiti by Marguerite Laurent, December 6, 2004

Below is an announcement of a Conference to be held by the Chalabis of Haiti* and their International sponsors in Canada on December 10 and 11, 2004.

The same Canadian officials, who conspired to destroy Haiti’s democracy with the forceful removal of Haiti’s elected government, are currently in the process of following through with the international community’s ultimate plans to place Haiti under direct occupation with the pretext of an “international protectorate.” To that end, Canadian foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew is holding a meeting with the Chalabis of Haiti on December 10-11, 2004 in Montreal. The Government of Canada is proceeding with its war on the Haitian people in the form of this new conference ostensibly to be attended by the “leaders in the Haitian community abroad.” However, the leaders in the Haitian community who have credibility with the grassroots movements for democracy in Haiti are not invited or welcomed to attend this meeting. Yes! Authorized Lavalas officials and grassroots leaders from Haiti and abroad are not invited. Thus, this is simply another Canadian attempt, like to Ottawa Initiative, to further humiliate the people of Haiti.

We at the Haitian Lawyers’ Leadership take this opportunity to state that the Chalabis of Canada, like Gerald Latortue and his “interim government,” have absolutely no popular base in Haiti or abroad.

Nothing shall endow the Chalabis of Haiti with credibility they do not own. We again denounce, in the strongest of terms, all efforts whatsoever, by these un-electable warmongers to take completely from the Haitian people, their right to self-rule, their independence and dignity.

Moreover, the Canadian officials calling for this conference have no credibility with protecting the rule of law in Haiti. (http://www.haiti-progres.com/2003/sm030305/eng03-05.html ) They are not unbiased. This new “Ottawa Initiative” conference, to be held in Canada next week, is just as reprehensible as the first one in January 2003.

No resolution to come out of this new “Ottawa Initiative”, this time with the Chalabis of Haiti actually in the room, in attendance with the foreign interventionist, shall have any validity or be relevant whatsoever to the pro-democracy movement and resistance against such organized tyranny in Haiti or aborad.

“We are under extreme pressure from the international community to use violence,” General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro told a congressional commission in Brazil. “I command a peacekeeping force, not an occupation force … we are not there to carry out violence, this will not happen for as long as I’m in charge of the force.”

He cited the United States, France and Canada among countries pressing for the use of force against armed groups.” ( http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6983380&src=rss/worldNews )

For two hundred years, Haiti’s greatest problem has been foreign domination, debt and dependency.

No receivership by the U.N. nor by any U.N official, whether his name is Gerald Latortue or Kofi Annan, is an acceptable solution to the problem forced-on the Haitian people when Canada, France and the U.S. conspired with these Chalabis of Haiti to overthrow the democratically elected government of Haiti.

By any means necessary, we commit, that, in this year marking Haiti’s 200th anniversary of independence, no occupation shall be legitimized or given a credible “Haitian” facade. This new attempt by Canada, to choose Haitians with absolutely no democratic constituency, both abroad and in Haiti, to better exploit what is left of the Haitian people’s dignity and revolutionary legacy is evil and reprehensible.

Colonialism is an act of war. Haitians worldwide intend to come together to denounce, in one voice, all efforts by the morally repugnant elites of Haiti and their various petit bourgeois wannabees, abroad or in Haiti, to legitimize rule by gun, violence, foreign troops and through feeding the world lies about their dirty hands and good and benevolent intentions. Only free and fair elections in Haiti is acceptable to good-willed Haitians authentically concerned with peace and security for the currently disenfranchised Haitian nation. No Bosnia or African-continent-type receivership by the Western powers shall be deemed a “helpful alternative” to the current chaos and destruction forced upon the Haitian people by the international community led by the United States, Canada and France and the Chalabis of Haiti.

We demand the immediate return of the rule of law to Haiti and respect for the ballot box. Paul Martin and Pierre Pettigrew’s efforts to cement the Feb. 29, 2004 victory over the ballot by putting a “Haitian face” to the Canadian/France/US-led effort to re-colonize the people of Haiti are transparent and repulsive to the extreme, not to mention another callous example of their bottomless racism.

No Haitian worthy of the gift of liberty fought and bled for by our African ancestors shall stand silent as this final humiliation is being metered upon all of us by Paul Martin, Pierre Petttigrew, Jack Chirac or George W. Bush and the Chalabis of Haiti. We shall agitate, agitate, agitate until Haiti is free, all political prisoner liberated and the Chalabis of Haiti and their death squad mercenaries are brought to justice.

Marguerite Laurent, Esq. Founder and Chair, Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network December 7, 2004 www.ezilidanto.com erzilidanto@aol.com

*The Chalabis of Haiti spread disinformation about the destabilization and overthrow of Haiti’s Constitutional government, recognize the illegitimate Latitude as their leader and cannot agree to free and fair elections in Haiti because they owe their jobs and positions with the international community from supporting the rule of force, the former military, the FRAPH assassins and drug dealers, the killing of the poor resisters of their brutality and from the orchestrated chaos and social inequities in Haiti. With reference to this Montreal Conference, they are all Haitians who attend this travesty and, in particular those publicly identified to be going to said thieving gathering to further try and sell the last shreds of the Haitian peoples” sovereignty and dignity:

Gerald Latortue Guillaume B(Babaras Chanteuse), Jonas Pierre-louis, Faroll? Harry Clerveau (syndicaliste ) Romain E(Eugenia) B.Dorvil Anne Métellus Group 184 Members of the former Haitian military and FRAPH All supporters of the violent overthrow of Haiti’s democratically elected government. And, bitter ex-Lavalas with an ax to grind or who bought-off by the Chalabis and Mr. Let’s-Hoard-It-All-Imperialist.

Please see the previous entry about the arrests of October 2, in which Lavalas members were arrested right out of a radio station where they had been criticizing the human rights record of the police. These three leaders, Former Deputy Roudy Hérivaux, Senator Yvon Feuillé, and Senator Gerald Gilles, have a base in the Haitian slum of Bel Air. Authorities are prepared to release Gilles, but not the others — who are accused of committing acts of violence on September 30.

One of the victims of violence on September 30: Marguerite Saint-Fils, 35, shot in her home by police from the CIMO unit during the course of an operation in La Saline.

On that day — Sept. 30 — police opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. From the Haiti Information Project report: “Members of the special police unit were seen firing on demonstrators and collecting bodies before masked gunmen returned fire killing three and wounding a fourth who later died in the hospital. ”

“The police action in Bel Air began this morning after a spokewoman for the Haitian National Police (PNH) asked listeners on local Radio Metropole to call the police “if you suspect there are Lavalas chimere in your neighborhood. We will come and get them immediately.” There are no reports of casualties on either side as the police continue to control all entrances to the Haitian slum. ”

Here are the HIP reports:

——-

October 4, 2004 – 4:00 PM

Gunfire erupts in Haiti’s slums

Haiti Information Project (HIP) – Residents in the slum of Bel Air exchanged gunfire today with police surrounding their neighborhood. Heavily armed units of the Haitian National Police cordoned off the area earlier this morning following an ultimatum issued by residents demanding the release of three of their leaders who were arrested on Saturday. Lavalas militants threatened to take to the streets in a new wave of protests unless Former Deputy Roudy Hérivaux, Senator Yvon Feuillé, and Senator Gerald Gilles were freed unconditionally.

Haitian officials announced earlier in the day that they would free Gilles citing a lack of evidence implicating him in the violence of September 30th. Minister of Justice Bernard Gousse continues to maintain that Hérivaux and Feuillé were the “intellectual authors” of the violence.

Bel Air is a slum in the capital of Port au Prince that served as a launching site for recent demonstrations demanding the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was ousted last February 29th amid charges he was kidnapped by U.S. Marines and remains in exile in the Republic of South Africa. The Bel Air slum has been under siege by police since violence erupted on September 30th after police opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. Witnesses say a unit of the Unite de Securite Presidentielle (U.S.P), a special security detail assigned to Interim President Boniface Alexandre, came under attack after police opened fire on the marchers. Members of the special police unit were seen firing on demonstrators and collecting bodies before masked gunmen returned fire killing three and wounding a fourth who later died in the hospital.

The U.S.-backed government claims that the headless bodies of the policemen were later recovered and that Aristide supporters have launched a campaign emulating beheadings in Iraq called “Operation Baghdad.” Representatives of Aristide’s Family Lavalas party have denied the allegations. A party spokesman in Bel Air reiterated “it was the police who provoked the violence by firing on demonstrators who were demanding the return of President Aristide.”

The police action in Bel Air began this morning after a spokewoman for the Haitian National Police (PNH) asked listeners on local Radio Metropole to call the police “if you suspect there are Lavalas chimere in your neighborhood. We will come and get them immediately.” There are no reports of casualties on either side as the police continue to control all entrances to the Haitian slum.

Reports from throughout the capital describe heavily armed police units backed up by unidentified paramilitaries taking up positions at major intersections in Port au Prince. Witnesses are also reporting heavy gunfire in Cite Soleil another slum known for its staunch support of Aristide.

=====

October 4, 2004 – 11:50 AM

Haiti slum surrounded by police

Haiti Information Project (HIP)

Haiti Information Project (HIP) – A slum in the capital is completely surrounded by the Haitian National Police (PNH) this morning following four days of violence and unrest. Heavily armed units of the PNH are positioned at all major thoroughfares around the community. “There is complete panic in Bel Air at this moment, people have already been shot and we expect this to be a massacre” said a frightened resident.

Police attempted nighttime raids in Bel Air on October 2nd and 3rd but were forced to withdraw after meeting fierce armed resistance. Shots could be heard throughout the area for several hours on both nights as residents fought a pitched battle with the police.

Bel Air is a slum in the capital of Port au Prince that served as a launching site for recent demonstrations commemorating the thirteenth anniversary of the 1991 military coup against Jean-Bertrand Aristide. On September 30th the police opened fire on unarmed demonstrators provoking an attack against a unit of the Unite de Securite Presidentielle (U.S.P), a special security detail assigned to Interim President Boniface Alexandre. Members of the special police unit were seen firing on demonstrators and collecting bodies before masked gunmen returned fire killing three and wounding a fourth who later died in the hospital.

The U.S.-backed government claims that the headless bodies of the policemen were later recovered and that Aristide backers have launched a campaign emulating Iraq called “Operation Baghdad.” Representatives of Aristide’s Family Lavalas party have denied the allegations. They reiterated it was the police who provoked the violence by firing on unarmed demonstrators who were demanding the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who remains in exile in the Republic of South Africa.

Political tensions ratcheted up further in Haiti after three Lavalas representatives were arrested on Saturday after participating in a broadcast on local Radio Caraibes FM. During the course of the program, Former Deputy Roudy Hérivaux, former Lavalas Senator Yvon Feuillé, and former Lavalas Senator Gerald Gilles denounced the violence and condemned the police for firing on unarmed demonstrators on September 30th. At 5:55 PM the police entered Radio Caraibes and arrested the three on charges of “inciting violence” related to September 30th. The police action was condemned by the management of Radio Caraibes stating that it “harms the reputation of the station and is an infringement of freedom of expression.” Radio Caraibes has suspended broadcasting indefinitely in protest.

The police action in Bel Air began this morning after the spokesperson for the Haitian National Police (PNH) asked listeners on local Radio Metropole to call them “if you suspect there are Lavalas chimere in your neighborhood. We will come and get them immediately.”

=====
The Haiti Information Project (HIP) is a non-profit alternative news service providing coverage and analysis of breaking developments in Haiti.

————————

October 3, 2004

Paramilitaries shoot Aristide supporters

Haiti Information Project (HIP)

Port au Prince, Haiti (HIP) – Reports are surfacing from many neighborhoods in the capital of paramilitary forces aligned with the US-backed regime of Latortue patrolling at night and shooting suspected supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Witnesses in the neighborhoods of Delmas 19, 30, 32 and 33 report heavily armed men in civilian clothes pulling up in cars and commandeering intersections at approximately 6:30 PM for two nights in a row. “They stop you and ask you political questions about Aristide and Lavalas. They ask you what you think about Latortue. If they think you like Aristide they will shoot you where you stand. I saw two young men I know who were killed that way Friday night. We are terrified and many people have left Delmas 30 out of fear” said 52 year-old Gladys who declined to give her last name.

This new development comes after four days of confrontations between the Haitian National Police (PNH) and supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Family Lavalas party. Violence broke out throughout the capital of Port au Prince on September 30th after the police fired at unarmed demonstrators. Bel Air, a slum in the capital that has served as a launching site for recent Lavalas demonstrations, is under nightly siege by the police. According to witnesses, elements of the PNH attempted to enter Bel Air for a second straight night in a row and were repelled by residents.

Political tensions ratcheted up further after three Lavalas representatives were arrested yesterday after participating in a broadcast on local Radio Caraibes FM. During the course of the program, Former Deputy Roudy Hérivaux , former Lavalas Senator Yvon Feuillé, and former Lavalas Senator Gerald Gilles denounced the violence and condemned the police for firing on unarmed demonstrators on September 30th. At 5:55 PM the police entered Radio Caraibes and arrested the three on charges of “inciting violence” related to September 30th. The police action was condemned by the management of Radio Caraibes stating that it “harms the reputation of the station and is an infringement of freedom of expression.” Radio Caraibes announced it would suspend broadcasting indefinitely in protest.

The Haiti Information Project is an important initiative that tries to provide breaking news on the situation in Haiti. They will probably have a website running soon. Meantime, you can count on websites like this one to republish their notes.

Let me start with October 2. These reports provide an anatomy of the ongoing witch hunt and slaughter of Lavalas people by the paramilitary killers who the US/Canada/France has installed to replace Aristide.

Three Lavalas parliamentarians from the old government were on the radio, Radio Caraibe, criticizing the current government. The Haitian police busted in and arrested them. Another former legislator protested the arrests, so the police arrested him too.

“Former Senators Yvon Feuillé and Gerard Gilles, and former Deputy Rudy Hérivaux. The three form the Communications Commission of the Fanmi Lavalas party, and all three are prominent critics of human rights violations carried out by Haiti’s Transitional Government. Lawyer Axène Joseph, also a former Deputy, was arrested when he protested the other arrests.”

This comes at the end of a week of a lot of killing of Lavalas activists. See the story below. I had originally planned to summarize it, but it is very concise. I have

————————-

Haiti Human Rights Alert: Illegal Arrest of Political Leaders October 2, 2004

On Saturday October 02, 2004, Haitian police forcibly entered Haiti’s Radio Caraibe and arrested three former parliamentarians from the Fanmi Lavalas party who had criticized the Interim Government during a radio program. They arrested a fourth former legislator who protested the arrests. The warrantless arrests were illegal and a clear violation of the detainees’ freedom of association and of expression. They take place in the context of a wave of police persecution of human rights critics, and verbal attacks on critics by Haiti’s Prime Minister.

The three arrested for criticizing the government were former Senators Yvon Feuillé and Gerard Gilles, and former Deputy Rudy Hérivaux. The three form the Communications Commission of the Fanmi Lavalas party, and all three are prominent critics of human rights violations carried out by Haiti’s Transitional Government. Lawyer Axène Joseph, also a former Deputy, was arrested when he protested the other arrests.

Feuillé, Gilles and Hérivaux had gone to Radio Caraibe to participate on the station’s 11AM “Ranmasé” program, along with Evans Paul and Himmler Rébu, both prominent critics of the Lavalas party. The program’s subject was violence accompanying recent anti-government demonstrations. Feuillé, Gilles and Hérivaux denounced the violence, and condemned the police for firing on unarmed demonstrators. Before the program ended, heavily armed police officers from the Port-au-Prince police headquarters and specialized units surrounded the station and announced their intention to arrest the three parliamentarians.

Radio Caraibe’s Station Manager, Patrick Mossignac, refused to allow the police entry into the station, citing the Haitian Constitution’s protection of free speech. Himmler Rébu and Evens Paul remained in the station to protest the police action. A standoff ensued, until just before 6 PM (the Constitution prohibits arrests, even with a warrant, after 6 PM). At that point Judge Gabriel Amboise, a Justice of the Peace, instructed the police to cut the locks and make the arrests. The three Parliamentarians did not resist arrest, and were taken by the police from the Station Manager’s office to the Port-au-Prince police holding cells. Lawyer Axène Joseph, also a former Deputy, was arrested earlier in the day when he arrived to protest the other arrests.

Lawyers for the arrestees demanded that Judge Amboise produce a warrant, as required by Haiti’s Constitution. The Judge refused, claiming that a verbal order from the Commissaire du Gouvernement (Chief Prosecutor) gave him the authority to make the arrest. He also refused to state the charge against the defendants. Throughout the day, however, government and police sources made announcements purporting to link Feuillé, Gilles and Hérivaux to recent violence. The police also claimed that a car belonging to one of the three contained automatic weapons, but dropped this claim when journalists and human rights observers on the scene insisted that the police, not the parliamentarians, had brought that car.

The October 2 arrests follow a sharp upturn in attacks against critics of the interim government’s human rights policies. On September 7, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a statement expressing concern “over several key areas in which the basic rights and freedoms of Haitians remain weak and imperiled.” On September 16, Radio Caraibe aired an interview with Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, in which Latortue complained that human rights criticism was making his relations with donor countries difficult. Later that day police officers raided the offices of the Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH) labor union and arrested nine union members, all without a warrant. The official justification for the arrest was that the defendants were “close to the Lavalas authorities.” Hours later, masked men in military attire attacked the office of the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of the Haitian People (CDPH).

The parliamentarians join many other officials of Haiti’s Constitutional government in jail, including former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and former Minister of the Interior Jocelerme Privert and former Delegate Jacques Mathelier. All are held illegally: neither Prime Minister Neptune nor Minister Privert have ever been brought before the judge who issued their arrest warrant. Mr. Mathelier was brought before a judge, who ordered his liberation on July 12, but prison authorities transferred Mathelier out of that judge’s jurisdiction.

On Thursday, police interrupted a legal demonstration commemorating the anniversary of Haiti’s September 30, 1991 coup d’etat. Human rights observers accompanying the demonstration reported that police fired on the march, after several attempts to disperse it failed. On the morning of October 1, interim Prime Minister Latortue conceded in a radio interview that the police had shot at protesters and individuals had been killed, and indicated that the authorities would take action against further protests.

Many media reports claim that demonstrators retaliated against the police on September 30, killing three. But before the demonstration started, the police had reported three police officers had been attacked in a firefight with a crime gang early that morning, with one killed and two wounded. The Interim Government claims to have recovered three bodies of decapitated officers, but did not announce their names and the Port-au-Prince morgue had not received the bodies of any of the three as of 4 PM on Friday. Media reports also say that the violence occurred when demonstrators tried to pass before the National Palace. In fact, the unprovoked shooting happened several blocks beyond the Palace, at the Rue des Casernes.

The end of last week saw a sharp increase in warrantless arrests and shootings of Lavalas supporters by police and anti-Lavalas paramilitary groups. IJDH has received reports from all over Port-au-Prince, especially in poor neighborhoods. The cases that we have been able to confirm so far are:

September 30:

Marguerite Saint-Fils, 35, shot in her home by police from the CIMO unit during the course of an operation in La Saline . Accel Savain, age 23 a Lavalas leader. Police searched his home without a warrant, and although they found no illegality, they arrested him after finding a T-shirt supporting President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Amel Prince, 25; Lamarre Prince, 21; Amboise Frantz, 20; Wilfred Amboise, 32; Jean Noel, 14; Laurent Yves, 21; Johny Rudolph, 23; Sonel Laguerre, 26; Michelin Michelle, 26, all arrested on Boulevard LaSaline, on September 30, all without warrants.

October 1: Wendy Manigat, age 15, shot and killed by police during an operation in Bel-Air

Roland Braneluce, 28, shot by police during a demonstration at Rue Tiremasse.

Lesly Gustave, a member of the National Committee of Reflection of Famni Lavalas, was arrested at approximately 4 PM on October 1, without a warrant. Police are reportedly searching for the remaining members of the committee.

In addition to police persecution, residents of Cite Soleil report that anti-Lavalas armed gangs have been targeting Lavalas supporters over the last few days. Those killed include:

Maxo Casséus, a leader of a grassroots organization in Cite Soleil, killed on September 30.

Piersine Adéma, a resident Soleil 9 in her sixties, killed while sitting in front of her house, reportedly by the same group that killed Maxo Casséus.

———–

I’m not sure of the origins of this PowerPoint presentation, but it looks like something some corporate put together to pitch Haiti for sweatshop production. Haitipolicy.org got its hands on it and put it on its website. Take a look.

As promised, more on the assault on the home of Mayor Moise from Milo by UN troops; and above that, news of repression from Haiti’s ‘free trade’ zones. Just in case anyone was worried that the coup in Haiti made things less safe for the sweatshop owners, you can put your mind at east. See below.

Urgent action alert and call for solidarity with Haitian workers – Haiti Support Group, 14 June 2004

Grupo M has fired 254 workers at the Codevi free trade zone at Ouanaminthe.

Dominican soldiers have been brought in to terrorise the workers.

The management has threatened to close the factory down rather than negotiate on pay and conditions with the union.

Since the beginning of June there has been a dramatic deterioration in the situation at the Codevi free trade zone in north-east Haiti. Following an international campaign in support of the 34 union members sacked in early March, negotiations in April led to an agreement between management and workers. By mid-May, all the sacked workers were back to work but, on 4 June, a breach of the May agreement led to a one-hour warning strike. The following day, the head of the Grupo M company arrived at the Codevi plant to tell workers that the plant would probably be shut down because of the continuing labour unrest. Then, in the afternoon, after another dispute had developed when management forcibly removed the t-shirts and ID badges of a group of women, the Dominican Army was called in to expel workers from the free trade zone.

A full one-day strike then took place on Monday, 7 June. Workers agreed to return to work on 8 June despite the continuing presence of the Dominican Army because the management had agreed to negotiate with the union. However, when the workers showed up to work at 5:30am, they found that they were locked-out.

On 9 June, Grupo M announced to the media that it was abandoning production at the Codevi free trade zone and laying off all 700 workers because of what it described as “security reasons in the face of threats and violent actions by a group of activists called Batay Ouvriye.”

By the end of the week, half of the production units were closed down at Codevi and 254 workers had been arbitrarily dismissed – including the coordinator and secretary of the SOKOWA union. Over the weekend, the company started advertising new jobs at its assembly plant in Santiago, the Dominican Republic.

The actions of the Grupo M company are scandalous violations of internationally recognised workers’ rights, and immediate protests must be registered.

Please send email now. Either use the form at LabourStart: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c= 30

or write your own emails to: Fernando Capellan, CEO of Grupo M e-mail: fcapellan@grupom.com.do telling him that Grupo M must immediately end the violence against workers; that the Dominican Armed Forces must be immediately and permanently withdrawn from the Codevi FTZ; that all management personnel found to have committed violent acts against workers must be disciplined; that negotiations in good faith with SOKOWA and the Batay Ouvriye workers’ organisation must begin; that arbitrarily fired workers must be re-instated, and that threats to close the factory must cease.

Remind him of his obligation to respect workersâ?T rights under Haitian law, of the code of conduct of their supplier Levi Strauss, and of the World Bank loan conditions.

to: Michael Kobori, Global Code of Conduct Director, Levi Strauss & Co. e-mail: mkobori@levi.com asking Levi Strauss to insist that their contractor comply with internationally-recognised workers’ rights, most especially the right to organise a union and bargain collectively. Furthermore, Leviâ?Ts should demand that the Haitian government give the SOKOWA union its legal registration, as required by law.

Remind him that Levi’s has a responsibility to work with its supplier to resolve this matter in a way that brings it into compliance with accepted standards of freedom of association.

Background: www.batayouvriye.org www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

Contact: Charles Arthur – haitisupport@gn.apc.org

—————-

June 14, 2004 For Immediate Release

French soldiers and U.N. Troops invade the home Mayor of Milo, Jean Charles Moise.

Early reports indicate that on June 14, 2004, at around 4:00 am in the morning, a contingent of French soldiers along with some U.N. (blue helmet) soldiers invaded the home of the duly elected Mayor of Milo, Jean Charles Moise.

According to sources close to Mayor Jean Charles Moise, on finding that he was not home, the soldiers arrested his wife and took her into custody, and possibly some other adults in his house, leaving his small underage children without a mother.

The house was ransacked and damaged by the soldiers. Under Haitian law, even with a warrant and judge (Juj de pe) present, no arrest may be made between the hours of 6:pm and 6 am in Haiti.

To date, foreign troops in Haiti have absolutely refused to respect or be bound to Haitian law, Constitution or sovereignty. The U.S. soldiers and now French and U.N. soldiers seem to be establishing a record instead of terrorizing suspects in the dead-of-night and treating Haitians, even 5-year old Haitian children, as in the So Ann’s home invasion, like criminals, especially if they are affiliated with the Lavalas party in Haiti which still remains Haiti’s strongest and most popular democratic party and movement.

What is most disturbing about this pattern is the single-minded focus on arresting primarily Lavalas voices with a well-known popular support base and credible reputations. This pattern is continuing even under the new U.N.-led troops with this current hunt for the Mayor of Milo. Said Mayor, Jean Charles Moise , has been a frequent voice in the U.S. media denouncing the human right abuses taking place in Haiti since the U.S. and France forced President Aristide and the Constitutionally elected government out of office. (See Mayor Jean Charles Moise’s personal testimony “Haiti’s Murderous Army Reborn” and at and re-printed below).

Please contact Kofi Annan at the UN, the French Mission at the UN, contact Ambassador James Foley directly at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince, call on Secretary of State Colin Powell at the US State Department in Washington, call the State Department (Haiti desk) and contact your Senators and Representatives. Call early and call often.

Raise your voices to protest this illegal arrest of the Mayor’s wife at 4:00 am in contravention of Haitian law. Protest the pattern of dead-of-night home invations, practiced solely against Lavalas officials while Guy Phillipe, Jean Tatoune and other known drug dealers, and convicted murderes run free in Haiti. Denounce the un-reported mass killings of Haitian civilians since the Coup D’etat, the reprisals, continued illegal arrests of popular leaders in the Lavalas party and this current hunt for the Mayor of Milo, Jean Charles Moise by foreign troops.

Haiti has had a long history of brutal political repression conducted by US supported dictators and their paramilitaries in the dead of night. That is why the law against such dead-of-night arrests was adopted by sincere and conscious Haitian legislators who wished to stop this pattern of injustice – such terrorizing, arbitrary and warrantless political arrests.

If the French soldiers and UN troops had a legitimate warrant to exercise, they should have exercised it at the appropriate hour and in accordance with the laws of the land and in accordance with their UN mission as peacekeepers.

Call, fax and write Secretary-General Kofi Annan, ask whether UN soldiers are now taking the place of the former bloody Haitian military and FRAPH paramilitiries, who never abided by any Haitian law whatsoever. Demand a stop to these sorts of home invations in Haiti by foreign troops there as “peacekeepers.” Demand the release of the Mayor’s wife, due compensation for the ransacked and destroyed home and a stop to this seeming systematic witch hunts for only Lavalas officials in Haiti and abroad.

Marguerite Laurent Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network

Pierre Labossiere Haiti Action Committee

CONTACT INFORMATION

Kofi Annan Secretary General United Nations New York, NY USA inquiries@un.org

Ambassador James B. Foley U.S. Embassy, Port-au-Prince, Haiti phone: 509.223.7011 or 509.222.0200 fax: 509.223.9665 email: acspap@state.gov

http://usembassy.state.gov (for address and additional phones)

Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State fax: 202.647.2283 or 202.647.5169 phone: 202.647.5291 or 202.647.7098 email via: http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_secretary.html

Haiti Desk Officers, U.S. State Department:

Joseph Tilghman fax: 202.647.2901 phone: 202.647.5088 email: tilghmanjf@state.gov

Lawrence Connell fax: 202.647.2901 phone: 202.647.6765 email: ConnellLF@state.gov

Some may remember the mayor of the Haitian town of Milo, Jean Charles Moise, who wrote about the ‘rebirth’ of Haitian army terror just after the coup of Feb/March. Moise is a Lavalas mayor who was writing from hiding. I just got this note from a Haiti reporter, who got a phone call from Haiti telling him what happened. More to come when more information can be verified.

French soldiers were snooping around, asking questions about the Mayor
of Milot, Moise Jean-Francois, approximately 1 1/2 weeks ago. At 4:00 AM
last night they and UN soldiers ransacked and “trashed” his home. He
was able to get away, but his wife was arrested and detained. No word as
yet on his children. Moise has been the mayor for nine years, and is also
the leader of a large pro-Aristide/democracy peasant union…

There’s some action alert going out later which I’ll fwd; I’m also trying to contact UN people, CDN embassy.

Nice to know that the UN is living up to expectations…

This bizarre story comes from the Montreal Gazette via the National Post via a reader, and is out of the archives — it came out shortly after the coup in Haiti, March 9, 2004.

The guy’s name is Paul Arcelin and he was a professor at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal in the 1960s. He gave an interview to a Canadian media outlet. Here’s some quotes.

“Two years ago, I met Guy Philippe in Santo Domingo and we spent 10 to 15 hours a day together, plotting against Aristide,” Mr. Arcelin said in an interview at the rebel headquarters at the Hibo Lele Hotel on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

“I explained the reality of Haiti to him,” Mr. Arcelin said, pulling Mr. Pettigrew’s business card out of his wallet. “He promised to make a report to the Canadian government about what I had said.”

The rest of the article (below) is typical mainstream media fare — apologetics for the coup, anti-Aristide stuff, surreal and solemn proclamations of fealty to the Haitian poor, and so on. But so much of this stuff is just completely out in the open.

Author(s): Sue Montgomery Article types: News Dateline: PORT-AU-PRINCE Section: World Publication title: National Post. Don Mills, Ont.: Mar 9, 2004. pg. A.12

Copyright National Post 2004)

PORT-AU-PRINCE – A former Montreal professor is taking credit for being the political mastermind of Haiti’s rebellion.

In an exclusive interview, Paul Arcelin, a professor at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal in the 1960s, told CanWest News Service he is the political lieutenant to Guy Philippe, leader of the rebel army that toppled Jean-Bertrand Aristide last month.

“Two years ago, I met Guy Philippe in Santo Domingo and we spent 10 to 15 hours a day together, plotting against Aristide,” Mr. Arcelin said in an interview at the rebel headquarters at the Hibo Lele Hotel on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

“From time to time we’d cross the border through the woods to conspire against Aristide, to meet with the opposition and regional leaders to prepare for Aristide’s downfall.”

Nicole Roy-Arcelin, who was elected to the House of Commons as a Montreal Conservative in 1988, is married to Paul Arcelin’s brother, Andre, a doctor who came to Canada in 1964.

When the rebels took over Hinche, a city in the north, soon after the Feb. 5 start of the insurrection, Mr. Arcelin said he was in Canada, sick. But he took advantage of the visit and his sister-in- law’s political connections to meet with Pierre Pettigrew, the Health Minister, whose Montreal riding has a large Haitian population.

“I explained the reality of Haiti to him,” Mr. Arcelin said, pulling Mr. Pettigrew’s business card out of his wallet. “He promised to make a report to the Canadian government about what I had said.”

It was around that time the international community’s attitude toward the rebels began to shift, with the U.S. embassy softening the rhetoric by referring to them as “armed elements of the north.”

Ten days ago, the Front de Liberation du Haiti, the rebel army, arrived in the capital in a convoy of SUVs and was greeted by cheering throngs of Haitians. The day before, Mr. Aristide had left the country — he claims he was ousted by the United States in what amounted to a coup d’etat — his regime in tatters and the nation a bankrupt, crumbling mess.

“My country looks like Hiroshima — dirty and destroyed like there was a war,” Mr. Arcelin said with disgust. “But there wasn’t a war. It was the destruction of the country by a president who was crazy.”

The rebels are now reaping the rewards of their three-week insurrection, denying they are interested in seizing power while basking in the glory heaped on them by the Haitian people.

The road to the Hibo Lele Hotel is a steep, potholed, narrow, winding path. There is no light, save for that coming from the candlelit shacks along the way, the jeep’s headlights and a full moon. Inside, the guests all carry guns — either over their shoulders or tucked into their jeans.

Inside a sparsely furnished room, Mr. Philippe, the self- declared military chief of the group, is sitting on a chair, naked from the waist up, a thick silver chain around his neck. He has a beer in one hand and a cellphone to his ear. As he speaks, he gazes at his image in a full-length mirror on the wall.

“Hello, my sweetie,” he says, after finishing the phone call. “What can I do for you?”

He looks much younger than his 36 years. He’s wearing brand new Docksider shoes and blue jeans. Around his right wrist is a leather strap with coloured beads that spell out the word “Gucci.”

Mr. Philippe is asked what he thinks about the political situation in his country — in particular the seven-member council that has been set up to choose an independent prime minister in the hope he will lead the country toward a free and fair election.

“If it’s something that can help the Haitian people, then it’s good,” he said. “I really think the international community will help, but it won’t help through military guys, but through food and education.”

Lurking behind Mr. Philippe is a handful of armed men, ready to use their weapons to keep the leader alive, even though he claims all eight million Haitians love him.

“I get calls from people telling me to watch out, and they call my family and friends, too,” he said, his boyish face breaking into an impish grin. “Everybody loved Jesus, too, but they killed him. They killed Martin Luther King; they killed Gandhi.”

Later, Mr. Arcelin says Mr. Philippe is, quite simply, “brilliant.”

“It’s Guy’s show; he’s the star,” Mr. Arcelin said. “He is the army head and I’m head of the political arm of the rebels. In less than 25 days, we took control of two-thirds of the country and part of the capital. We planned it in a way that the world was surprised.”

After their jubilant and peaceful arrival in the capital, the rebels announced they were laying down their arms and would respect the process put in place to lead the country to elections.

When a peaceful victory demonstration turned violent on Sunday, killing six, including Spanish television reporter Ricardo Ortega, Mr. Arcelin was outraged.

With such a heavily armed population, Mr. Arcelin worries his country will become another Somalia.

After Sunday’s bloodshed, the rebels vowed to retreat to their stronghold in the north and re-evaluate their strategy. But before leaving, Mr. Arcelin dropped by the Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince to say goodbye, introducing himself at the front desk as the Canadian ambassador.

Asked whether he will return to Canada or continue to fight, Mr. Arcelin replied: “It’s difficult to say what will happen.

“I would never say I’m going back to Canada, although I love Canada — the best years of my life were there. But it’s such an organized country compared to Haiti and I feel I owe my life to the poor and needy of my country. I am here for the rest of my life.”

(The Gazette)

Apparently Latortue, the coup-installed Haitian Prime Minister, has asked US troops to remain behind after the US transfers the burden of the occupation to Brazil and other Latin American countries. I have the article from Knight-Ridder Tribune below.

One of the things that Latortue said sticks out. He said:

“This is the only force in the world they will respect”

Who are they? Well, it’s pretty clear that they are the population of Haiti. You couldn’t ask for a clearer statement of what Latortue thinks his role is: getting the Haitian population to ‘respect’ what is imposed on them.

And Latortue is doing it, by exacerbating starvation (and telling Haitians to eat cheaper), unleashing paramilitary killers, and pleading with the Americans to continue overseeing it all.

June 10, 2004

Haitian leader requests U.S. troops stay after official withdrawal

BY RAFAEL LORENTE

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

WASHINGTON – (KRT) – Interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and several members of Congress are pressing Bush administration officials to leave at least some American soldiers on the island after their scheduled withdrawal at the end of this month.

“Even if we have 100 it is better than nothing,” Latortue said, after a meeting Thursday with Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla.

The hope is that a small American force could stay in Haiti to protect the U.S. Embassy and American workers in the country. The force would not be under the command of the Brazilian-led United Nations mission that is taking over security on the island. But

Latortue and others believe that the mere presence of American troops serves as a stabilizing influence.

“This is the only force in the world they will respect,” Latortue said.

Foley and several other members have written to the president asking that such a force be left in place, but have not heard a response.

“We’re hopeful,” said Foley, who said he plans to write another letter.

In addition to meeting with Foley, Latortue met with other members of Congress and was scheduled to meet with Roger Noriega, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. He was recently in South Florida raising money for victims of the devastating floods that killed more than 1,700 in Haiti and the Dominican Republic last month.

While in Washington, Latortue represented Haiti during services for former President Reagan. He was scheduled to fly to New York for meetings at the United Nations before returning to Haiti.

Besides trying to get U.S. troops to stay in Haiti, Latortue also is attempting to set the stage for more international aid for the country. He is looking for immediate humanitarian aid as well as long-term solutions to the deforestation in Haiti that contributed to the deadly floods. One of his goals before elections scheduled for 2005, at which time Latortue promises to step aside, is to get help in constructing a power plant to stabilize the island’s electrical system.

“One of the best legacies we can leave to Haiti as an interim government is to leave light in Haiti – electricity,” he said.

Just got Aristide’s statement in the mail. He’s leaving Jamaica to go to South Africa. It’s actually a nice statement. Read it, read between the lines. And know that the battle for Haiti’s future isn’t over yet.

Statement by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
May 30, 2004
Kingston, Jamaica

As my family and I prepare to leave Jamaica for South Africa, I once again thank Prime Minister Patterson, the people of Jamaica and the entire Caribbean family for hosting us during this very special time. We extend this heartfelt appreciation on behalf of the Haitian refugees as well. For them too it’s a special time.

When have we ever seen a democratically elected president leave his rightful place against his will as it happened on February 29, 2004? It’s a special time. When did we ever see powerful hands set fire to a house then prevent the people inside from leaving? It’s a special time.

Since February 29, 2004, the level of suffering has dramatically increased in Haiti. While on one side thousands are being killed for supporting their elected government, on the other side, more than 2,000 people lost their lives because of the ecological disaster that we all recently witnessed. We stand in solidarity with the residents of Mapou, Font Verette, Jimani, and with all Haitians and Dominicans directly affected. We express our profound condolences to all those who lost a mother, father, husband, wife, child, relative or friend in this tragedy. Again, a special thanks to the Jamaican government and to all those who have answered the humanitarian call of these victims.

Claro, me siento en profunda communión con mis Hermanos y Hermanas de laRepública Dominicana. De nuevo, un abrazo fraternal a todas las víctimas mientras buscamos como seguir expresando esa solidaridad, dado que Haiti y la República Dominicana son dos alas del mismo pájaro.

As we prepare this return to the mother continent, we thank President Mbeki, the people of South Africa, the Member Nations of the Organization of African Union. After two visits to South Africa, it will now be our temporary home until we are back in Haiti. Of course the Haitian situation must be normalized; peace must be restored through democratic order. The solidarity shared by South Africa, CARICOM and the Organization of African Union to promote peace and democracy in Haiti crystallizes the world-wide African unity that will continue to flourish.

Wherever we are, always united, we will continue to promote peace. This, more than ever , is what the world needs today. We must all work for peace, not war. We must all work for a better life in a world where four-fifths of the population consumes only one-fifth of the world’s resources. And we must all work for the full respect of this democratic principle: one person one vote. Peace is linked to freedom. May the spirit of our 200 years of independence guide us in this special time.

Thank-you.